Category: Blogging

As summer begins to come to a close, I am surprised by how busy I still am. In fact, I’ll admit I feel a bit overwhelmed.

Now, you may be asking, why? The weather is going to get cooler. You won’t be doing outside events. Why would you feel so overwhelmed?

Well, let’s just summarize the past couple of weeks:

I read and reviewed Rachel Caine’s Sword and Pen, the latest book in her The Great Library young adult series for New York Journal of Books.

The Rite of Wands was a Top 10 Finalist in the Author Academy Awards. You can still vote for my book in the Fantasy category up till October 24th. On October 25th, I will be driving down to Columbus, OH to compete for the win and attend the amazing Igniting Souls Conference.

Today, I learned my short story, which is a mesh of #DoctorWho and #StarTrekVoyager, was accepted into the Unknown Realms anthology from Fiction-Atlas Press, coming out on October 28th.

And I’m also involved in a BIG secret project, which is so big, I am not even allowed to talk about it yet publicly. Phew!

Find out what my GR8Blog author friends have in store for this First Friday.

READY, SET, JUMP INTO SUMMER: C*U*R*R*E*N*T*L*Y BLOG HOP

Summertime is my most favorite season of the year. To me, it means travel season – warm weather, craft shows, sunscreen, time in the pool, multiple book signing appearances, vacations, etc.

Normally I blog on a regular basis, however, because I have neglected this blog the last couple of months due to multiple writing projects, I wanted to do something different and briefly talk about what I’ve been up to, reading, writing about, listening to and anticipating. Then, visit the #Gr8Blogs at the end of this post for even more inspiration and smiles.

What I’ve Been Up To:

Lots of exciting things have been going on lately. First, I officially handed in my manuscript to my publisher for the next book in The Rite of Wands series. It is titled The Rite of Abnegation. Though there is no official release date yet, I predict it will be released towards Fall of 2020.

And second, earlier this year, I also joined a podcast called The Legend of the Traveling TARDIS Radio Show. Check out & SUBSCRIBE to the newest and the best Doctor WHO radio show. A new episode every Saturday on Krypton Radio and you can listen and download the episodes at:

I had always been under the impression the Star Trek novels were just novelized versions of each of the episodes of the show. Instead, I most recently discovered that while some may, most contain stories that were never seen on television. Seriously, where have I been?

Currently I’m reading The Murdered Sun by Christie Golden as part of the Star Trek Voyager novelizations:

When sensors indicate a possible wormhole nearby, Captain Janeway is eager to investigate, hoping to find a shortcut back to Federation space. Instead, she discovers a star system being systematically pillaged by the warlike Akerians. Janeway has no desire to get caught up in someone else’s war, but in order to the check on the possibilities offered by the wormhole — and to save the innocent people of Veruna Four — VoyagerTM has no choice but to challenge the Akerians.

Currently Writing:

With the 25th anniversary of Star Trek Voyager coming up next year, I’m currently working on a science fiction short story collection, containing stories all written by me, that will be similar to a mesh of Star Trek Voyager and Doctor Who. One of the featured stories, I’m also planning on submitting for possible inclusion in a science fiction/fantasy anthology, that, if accepted, will be released in September 2019.

Currently Listening To:

I have been anxiously awaiting the release of this audiobook, The Lives of Captain Jack: Volume 2, from Big Finish Productions ever since it was first announced. I absolutely HAD to know how our favorite Captain Jack Harkness would end up in the 6th Doctor’s clothing and would become the Doctor in Piece of Mind written by James Goss.

It is a brilliant, clever story, though not 100% without flaws. I’ll discuss more about this in an upcoming podcast episode of The Legend of the Traveling TARDIS Radio Show.

What I’m Thinking About:

This past weekend, I did a book signing at the largest Doctor Who store and museum in the United States called Who North America. It’s located in Camby, Indiana, just south west of Indianapolis.

I had the pleasure of sitting in the designated area for official Doctor Who writers. There, I got to be part of both worlds – getting to meet new readers of The Rite of Wands and talking exclusively about Doctor Who!

The last week of October, they will be having another wonderful Doctor Who event called Doctoberfest! They will have a costume contest, Doctor Who exclusive vendors, pumpkin carving, and much much more!

You name it, this store/museum has it, including an original designed Cyberman! If you’re a fan of Doctor Who, you live in the US, and have never been there before, you have GOT to check it out.

Seeing In My Camera Lens:

If you may love dragons as much as I do, you may be able to see the dragon that I swear formed in this set of clouds when I captured this photograph.

Hey, Bloggers! Join us on our C*U*R*R*E*N*T*L*Y Jumping into Summer Blog Hop. Just add your PG-13 post link below in the comment section. We’ll visit your blog and give you some blog love. And if you use #Gr8Blogs, we’ll support your family-friendly summer-themed post.

Next up is the amazing Blue Box Alliance, who have an important message to share with Doctor Who fans. Today their founder, Jeremy Wheeler, will talk to us about some of the different ways one can participate in the fandom including cosplay, fan-films, podcast, comic cons, and #WhoAgainstBullying.

Welcome!

Question 1): What part of the world do you come from?

I (Jeremy Wheeler) currently reside in a small river city town in eastern Kentucky called Ashland. However, most of the members of Blue Box Alliance reside in Columbus, OH. One member lives in Florida, and another in British Columbia, Canada. We also have a small group of members in the United Kingdom.

Question 2): When did you become a fan of Doctor Who?

I was born during the middle of Tom Baker’s era as Doctor Who (1978), and my earliest memories of TV as a child were watching Doctor Who late Saturday nights on PBS. My oldest sister watched it every week along with Star Trek. She is a zealous sci-fi fan. I remember watching Doctor Who until Peter Davison took over the role in 1982, and I was confused why the Doctor didn’t look like the floofy haired one that I first knew. I didn’t know how the show worked, and I wasn’t aware that the Doctor regenerated and changed looks when mortally wounded.

Fast forward to 2013. I was a senior in college at Marshall University, and a number of my fellow classmates were enamored with the new Doctor Who. I was surprised to learn that the show was still on the air after many years, because I quit watching it in the early 80s. After being pressed to watch Doctor Who I finally gave in to the pressure. I learned that a 50th Anniversary Special was airing in a few months, and I had some time to catch up on Doctor Who leading up to the show. I binge-watched all the “new” Doctor Who I could find, and quickly became a fan of Chris Eccleston as the Doctor. I was a bit disappointed that he regenerated after only one season, but it explained to me how and why the Doctor changes his appearance from time to time.

The big day of the 50th Anniversary special came, and I was glued to my TV all day watching the festivities live on BBC America. Although I was slightly caught up on “new Who,” there were still a ton of story arcs I wasn’t familiar with (River Song in particular).

Imagine my surprise when “The Great Curator” came on the screen during the final scene of the 50th anniversary special. The moment I saw Tom Baker make a cameo as a Doctor-Not-Doctor character made me weep with tears, because in that moment MY Doctor was on screen. I wept with joy and excitement, and in that precise moment I became a dedicated and rabid fan of the show, and it’s been a upward spiral of joy ever since then.

Question 3): Who is your Doctor?

As already alluded to before, my only exposure to Doctor Who that I watched regularly was Tom Baker – the 4th Doctor Who. Perhaps it was his childlike nature, or his floofy hair, or his colorful scarf. Or maybe it was his robot dog K-9 that kept my attention. Whatever it was, the 4th Doctor is and always will be Doctor Who for me.

Question 4): What started your interest in cosplay?

I suppose cosplay was something I was mildly aware of that existed, but I assumed that it was for hobbyists with ample disposable income to burn. I mean, creating costumes requires a talent I don’t have, and money that I didn’t have either. It also requires plenty of money to buy tickets so you can show off those awesome costumes at conventions. It wasn’t until I fully immersed myself in to Doctor Who fan communities online that cosplay became fully aware to me, and that fans spent very little, or no money at all constructing props and costumes with whatever they could find. Of course, I also discovered that fans were hiring professional costume makers to make their costumes too.

When I discovered some comic and pop-expo conventions were making their way close to where I live I decided to research the cost of costumes and props, and then I easily chose the 4th Doctor to be my one and only form of cosplay. I didn’t act immediately, though. I spent a couple of years trying to piece together the right 4th Doctor costume, but found it nearly impossible to find any jacket that resembled the ones Tom Baker wore, and I also found it nearly impossible to knit my own colorful scarf like the 4th Doctor wore. I wasn’t aware at the time that there were online vendors who custom make scarves and other bits and pieces for cosplayers to dress up as their favorite Doctor. I discovered online cosplay retailers just a couple of years ago, and saved the right amount of money purchasing a wig that closely resembles the 4th Doctor’s curly hair, and a costume that is as screen accurate as I can afford to get.

Question 5): How important is it to you to have authentic materials and patterns for your cosplays?

At first, having as costume and props that were as screen accurate as I could get was a top priority. But when the challenge of finding patterns and materials for some of the 4th Doctor’s vests and jackets proved to be an impossible feat, I gave up and settled for just finding costumes as close to screen-accurate as I can get. Plus, only professional cosplayers who compete in contests are more concerned with authenticity and accuracy when it comes to their contests. Since I do not compete in contests, I have settled for just looking as close to the 4th Doctor as possible without having vests and pants that match the exact same ones as the Doctor wore in the 70s and early 80s.

As a mission dedicated to STOP BULLYING, our mission isn’t to impress other cosplayers or compete in contests, but to share a message of love and acceptance. Everyone who has ever encountered us at a convention has never ridiculed us about anything minor as a costume inaccuracy, because they realize we represent a group who loves Doctor Who and is only concerned with giving fellow Doctor Who fans with an experience of meeting the Doctor and his/her companions as they’ll ever get. Casual convention attendees don’t grade you or care if your vest matches perfectly, or if your costume is screen-accurate or not. They see someone dressed as one of their favorite characters and they are content with that, and so are we.

Even our TARDIS prop is not screen accurate. We built a TARDIS using plans and blue prints from a woodworker who designed a generalized TARDIS. Since we have so many variations of the Doctor at all of our appearances, having a TARDIS design that is specific to one Doctor and not another didn’t seem fair or economically possible. Instead, we erred on the side of building a generic version of the TARDIS that fits all the variations of the Doctor and not just one. And as usual, when fans of Doctor Who see our TARDIS at a convention, they never comment with “that’s not the TARDIS from [insert a Doctor’s name here] era.” It’s always, “Oh wow! Look! The TARDIS! Can I get a picture with it?” Of course, we oblige. Selfies with our TARDIS are always free, by the way.

Question 6): What inspired you to start Blue Box Alliance?

I give credit to two factors: 1. Mr. Ronn Smith, creator of the YouTube series “Doctor Who: The Classic Series Regenerated.” and 2. Heroes 4 Higher (a DC and Marvel Cosplay group dedicated to speaking out against drug abuse, bullying, substance abuse).

Ronn Smith is a fellow fourth Doctor cosplayer, and when I watched his YouTube video for the first time I though, “I’d love to do this!” A couple of years later, Ronn and I crossed paths on social media and we connected. I learned he lived not too far from me, and we met a couple of times so I could learn more about what he has done with his YouTube series, and what he plans to do in the future. Ronn is just as eager a fan of the fourth Doctor as I am, and so we quickly became good friends.

Heroes 4 Highter, LLC is a group that I have observed locally for quite some time. John Buckland is a former military firefighter who is retired and now spends his time cosplaying as Batman. He visits sick and injured children in hospitals, speaks at schools and churches, and also drives around in a replica Batmobile that he has dubbed “The Hope Mobile.” Because of their efforts, and the changes in people’s lives that they’ve made, I became inspired to assemble a group of people who had the passion and vision to do the same thing.

Unfortunately, I’m not a passionate fan of DC or any other comicbook characters, but I knew I wanted to do something similar to Heroes 4 Higher. The only logical thing I knew to do was find a group of fellow Doctor Who fans who was interested in social activism, and who wanted to represent the Doctor Who brand with a strong message of just being kind to other people.

I also work in the public education system, and seeing young students be victims of bullying was something that tugged at my heart. After initially conceptualizing my idea to combine Doctor Who, teaching, activism, and a desire to change people’s lives, Blue Box Alliance was born.

In November of 2016, I joined a few private Doctor Who cosplay fan forums announcing my vision of connecting Doctor Who cosplayers who wanted to speak out about the issue of bullying. Only one or two people responded, but fortunately they were very close to where I lived, and we connected and further conceptualized what is now known as Blue Box Alliance.

In the Spring and Summer of 2017 we started making appearances at as many conventions we could get ourselves in to. Some conventions invited us as guests, and others we had to petition to become participants in. Wizard World in Columbus, Ohio was our big break.

During the Columbus show, David Tennant, Catherine Tate, and John Barrowman were booked as guests. The majority of the convention attendees were there specifically to meet the tenth Doctor and his most popular companions. Of course, we had a prime location that intersected with the lines that lead to all three stars. With our TARDIS on display, and our various Doctor Who and related characters, we had a non-stop line requesting picture and photos with us and our TARDIS the entire weekend. Meanwhile, we were able to tell folks exactly who we were, what we were, and why we were doing what we were doing. The response and acceptance of our mission was openly positive, and since then we’ve continued to grow our online presence through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.

Question 7): How can Doctor Who fans help spread the word about #WhoAgainstBullying?

We are active on all of our social media platforms. Doctor Who fans can first follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @BlueBoxAlliance. We are easy to find.

Next, in the coming months we will be premiering our very first Doctor Who fan-film that fans can share. The show will present a strong message about friendship and battling bullying.

Another way Doctor Who fans can help spread the word is using the hashtag #WhoAgainstBullying or #BlastBullying along with #BlueBoxAlliance.

Question 8): The Blue Box Alliance was a guest at Wizard World Columbus. How did that come about?

It was a pure stroke of luck for us since we were just getting started in early 2017. Fortunately, someone who’s a member of our group has a relative who follows Wizard World on Facebook. The powers-to-be posted on their page how they were looking for fan groups to appear as special guests at their 2017 Columbus show. I believe someone close to one of our members tagged us in the post, and within minutes a representative of Wizard World contacted us personally and invited us to be a part of the show.

Surprisingly we were a huge hit at the 2017 show. Of course, it helped that three top stars from Doctor Who were there that year. As the months grew closer to the 2018 Wizard World Columbus show I contacted the same representative who booked us the year prior, and she graciously allowed us back. Wizard World is our top favorite show, and we look forward to it each year.

Question 9): Recently I learned about Who and Company, which is a Doctor Who podcast. How can fans tune into this show and/or be a guest?

Who & Company is an online podcast hosted by two American fans, Brent and Drew. The podcast is a fairly new show, but they cover all sorts of news regarding Doctor Who – classic Who, current series, and future series. The hosts found us on Twitter and were impressed with our #WhoAgainstBullying campaign and wanted to feature us as a guest.

We gladly went on to the show, and now we proudly support them in their effort as a top-tier Doctor Who podcast. Fans can tune in on Apple iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, and everywhere else podcasts can be listened to.

If you want to be a guest on the show, you can contact Brad and Drew directly through twitter: @whoandcompany

Question 10): I understand you are also into making Doctor Who fan films. What decisions go into choosing a particular film to produce?

Producing a Doctor Who fan-film was a tough decision to make, because there are so many fan-films already online. Everyone out there who is a fan of the show is doing their very best with what they have to work with, and it’s fabulous what they are producing.

I’ve been working in independent film-making for a little over three years now. The first thing to consider when producing a movie, or a fan-film in particular, is “How do I make mine completely different from everyone else who’s making a Doctor Who fan-film?”

This was an easy answer to find. First, we wanted to write a script that would emphasize our strong stand against bullying. So what could we do with the Doctor that hasn’t been done before, or how could we re-do a scenerio the Doctor has faced before, but in a new way?

Most of the fan-films out there feature a unique and personal version of the Doctor. I’ve yet to see a Doctor Who fan-film that features an attempt at recreating one of the canonized Doctors we all know and enjoy. It’s usually someone creating their own version of the Doctor and exploring brand new stories with their extended universe version of Doctor Who.

In our Doctor Who fan-film we are focusing on the fourth Doctor; mainly, because I’ll be portraying him and we don’t want to have to develop a new version of the Doctor like other fan-films. Second, our story is set during an unknown period of the Doctor that we as fans may or may not ever know about. It’s an extended universe story, and it takes place following the Doctor’s departure from Leela, so he’s all alone traveling all of time and space as usual, but we don’t really know where and what the Doctor does in his down time between adventures, so we sort of explore that.

For the sake of our story, we chose to create new companions for our film. When you see our film you’ll understand why we chose to create all new companions, because our story takes place in a setting that the Doctor rarely ever goes to, if ever.

Next, we wanted our script to not only feature an exciting adventure and conflict for the Doctor to encounter, but we also wanted the script to feature a message. Our script isn’t just an adventure on just another planet with just some more companions facing just another threat. No. Our threat is real. We are relying heavily on magical realism in our film, and we hope the audience will lose themselves in the story. Of course, we don’t have hardly any money to spend on this project, so we hope the audience will be forgiving on the special effects side of things and focus more on the story.

Question 11): On social media you have posted about another Doctor Who fan film. Can you tell me a bit more about it and how fans can audition?

Our first attempt at a fan-film is a story called ‘THE CELESTIAL FRIENDMAKER.’ It’s an extended universe story featuring the fourth Doctor, and although he precisely set the TARDIS coordinates for another location, he somehow ends up in present day rural United States (2018/2019).

Meanwhile, two teenaged girls – Heidi and Amber – are at each other’s throats. Amber is the high school bully and she has it out for Heidi. But is there something more insidious behind Amber’s behavior towards Heidi, or is it just a part of the psycho-social order of teenaged development? Tune in to find out!

As the girls go at each other, a dark shadowy figure is following Heidi around until an encounter with the Doctor leads both girls to stop fighting each other for a moment and seek refuge for their lives from the dark shadow figure. Somehow, they make their way in to the TARDIS where the Doctor tries some conflict resolution between the young ladies in attempts to negotiate peace. When it seems like the negotiations are going to fail, the Doctor takes his time to both girls the value of life in only the way the Doctor can.

At the present, July 9th, we have most of the cast and crew of the fan film already in place. We do have space for the part of Amber, an adult teacher role (can be male or female), and the role of Heidi’s uncle Barry. It should be noted that this is a fan-film, and it’s as low budget as it comes. Everyone is strictly volunteer and must not anticipate financial compensation for acting or performing behind the scenes work for the film. The fan film will be release publicly and for free on YouTube and Vimeo for general audiences to enjoy.

We aren’t counting our chickens before they hatch, but the intent is to continue to create Doctor Who fan film content that fans will love and enjoy. We intend to write scripts that will carry a strong and encouraging message and lesson in each one.

Our hope to expand our presence nation and world wide. We understand that our efforts are a tad bit niche, but we can at least make a small impact on Doctor Who fans by emphasizing the principals of kindness, acceptance, love, laughter, and bravery.

We intent to attend and appear at more conventions where we will have our TARDIS and other props on display. Photos with us and our props are always free. We never charge for anything. We’re not out to make any money. We’ve been to conventions where other prop displays charge $25 or more for a non-professional photo with their TARDIS or other props. We’re not interested in profiting. We’re interested in rejoicing together with other Doctor Who fans, making friends with people who love the show as much as we do, and reminding people to “run fast, always be kind; hate is foolish, and love is always wise!”

Lastly, we hope to begin making presentations and taking our TARDIS and props to public schools and offering our services as entertainers and educators to where the heart of our mission is aimed.

Question 13): How can others find out more about you and your work?

Facebook is our primary way of advertising and interacting with fellow Doctor Who fans. We also post enlightening quotes from Doctor Who, and the latest statistics about bullying and its effects.

In the coming weeks, we’ll be posting videos discussing things relevant to Doctor Who and bullying, and that will be posted on our Facebook page as well.

We’re also active on Twitter and Instagram: @BlueBoxAlliance

We have a blog and tells a little bit more about us, and also features articles written by the members of Blue Box Alliance. You can check that out at:

Thank you again, Jeremy! Fans, please make sure to check out their Word Press, and stay tuned next week when I sit down with Luke East from Reviewing Who to talk about reviewing Doctor Who, Big Finish Productions, etc!

In celebration of author, Toi Thomas’ birthday, on October 21st, all her ebooks are on sale $0 – $1.99 from October 20th – October 24th. All her books are also available in print and come with reasonable shipping through Createspace.com, if you don’t have Amazon Prime. Check out her books below and then stick around for Toi’s Top 5 Angel Books and giveaway.

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Legend of the Boy, In the Window, and Other short stories – sale$0.99 | Createspace $9.99

Collection of multi-genre stories including science fiction, romance, and paranormal. The first title story is that of a boy who must destroy the world so he can save humanity.

These two simple, yet vibrant, stories teach young children, and those with special needs, the importance and inevitability of change in living things and the world. Sold separately.

~

Hi there; I’m Toi. If you aren’t familiar with me yet, don’t worry; this is your chance to learn that I love Batman, Betty Boop, Star Wars, and Angels. I like all kinds of angels. Good ones, bad ones, and creatures with wings that look like angels but may not actually be. I don’t think it’s just a matter of wings either. There are other winged creatures I like, such as dragons, but there are also some I don’t like such as flying monkeys or seagulls. LOL! But seriously, I’ve grown a fondness for angel lore and stories about and or containing angel-like creatures. Heck, I even write about them in my Eternal Curse Series. While my books are influenced by Bible tales, a great many angel stories are not. Either way, if it’s about angels, I’m probably going to like it. So, here’s a list of the Top 5 angel books (or books with an angel or angel-like character) I’ve read in at least the last ten years, and in no particular order.

If you like angels or supernatural and urban fantasy stories, you should enter my paperback giveaway (open to US only) of the books mentioned above. I’ve enjoyed them and hope you will too. If you are looking for discounted print books with free international shipping, give Book Depository a try. Thanks for celebrating my birthday with me… And remember, book reviews are every author’s life force. 🙂

I’m often asked about how one goes about getting their name out there. Truth is, there’s no one who can sell your book better than you. You are the brand!

If you’re not already, you should be thinking about the upcoming holidays! I know, fall has just started. Let’s not rush it, right? Halloween hasn’t even happened yet!

However, this is the time of the year when children are back at school, and parents/grandparents are already starting to prepare their birthday/Christmas lists as they get back into their daily routines.

So, where are the best places to help readers get your books into their hands? Below you will find some of my suggestions.

Note: Like any other form of marketing, you will find what works for one author may not work for you. It’s all about learning, exploring and discovering what areas work best for you and your book. You may be surprised to discover where you can be successful in selling your book!

Author Events/Conventions:

These can honestly be a hit or miss, especially if you are a first time published author.

My advice: look for author events that have been around for several years. Do your research. Find out how many attendees were there, what type of books they bought, what kind of advertising is going on, are there any guest speakers, and most importantly, who is hosting the event? Remember: not every opportunity is a good one.

For example: I made the mistake this year of attending an author event this summer, which had been recommended to me as the “place to go” for a YA author by a local bookstore, that just happened to be run by a self-published author. Within the first few minutes of the event starting, I sensed something wasn’t quite right.

One author stated he was selling his book, which he knew was full of errors, and frankly, didn’t care. This not only made me question the event’s reputation, but it soon became obvious, I wasn’t part of “that” crowd when readers deliberately skipped my table like I was wearing an invisibility cloak, and proceeded to move onto everyone else’s table in my row due to them being already familiar with those authors because they were “friends” with the host.

Needless to say, I won’t be attending that event again.

Book Festivals:

My first author event took place this year at the Ann Arbor Book Festival in Ann Arbor, MI in June. Above I’m pictured with 7 other authors representing BHC Press.

We had a great turnout despite the event itself failing to properly advertise. It was especially unfortunate that majority of the local businesses had no idea this event was even going on.

Comic Con:

Even though I personally have not attempted to sell my book at comic con yet, many authors I know have, and have done really well. The reason I have not tried selling my book at comic con is because the ones I normally attend as a spectator are huge and expensive. For example, back in 2014, a table at Wizard World Chicago cost over $400. I have never sold that many books at an event before, so I know I would just end up taking a loss with just one book.

However, the key is not to think big like Wizard World Chicago, San Diego Comic Con, or Fan Expo Canada. Instead, think of local venues that are smaller, that have specific kind of guests. If you’re a horror writer, for example, you may target a comic con that has Norman Reedus as an invited guest, because known for bringing in a crowd.

Comic con is also spectacular for panels. That’s how I got to meet Genese Davis, Rachel Caine, and James Morrison.

Barnes & Noble:

Photo courtesy of Barnes & Noble: Rochester Hills

This is every author’s dream if you live in America: getting your work recognized by Barnes & Noble. And despite what you may have heard, you don’t have to have sold millions of books to get into their stores!

Most recently I had the awesome opportunity to participate in the B-Festival: Teen Festival through the Barnes & Noble Rochester store located in Rochester Hills, MI. The entire day was filled with activities on publishing, writing, young adult, and teen books.

And the best part of the day – the author’s panel!

Library Book Fairs:

This summer I had the opportunity to participate in my first library book fair at the Warren Civic Center. The facility was beautiful, and the hosts were delightful. I joined 15 other authors where we got to meet new readers and all got the opportunity to talk about our books. There was also a really cool group photo taken, but due to I suspect…more email issues, I don’t have a copy of it.

Art Fairs:

Okay, I’ll be honest with this one. When I first thought of art fairs, I didn’t associate them with places to buy books. Instead I thought of them as solely places to buy art. However, I soon discovered that could not be any further from the truth! I mean when you think about it, books are a form of art too, no? They are just a different kind of art.

This summer I attended two art fairs – Fenton’s Art Walk and Swartz Creek’s Art In The Park. The result: both times I either doubled or tripled the amount of sales I made from any of the other venues mentioned above, which convinces me these are the venues that work best for me.

So, what was different about these venues versus the ones listed above?

Both of these events felt more inviting than any of the events I’ve attended thus far. Everyone was encouraging each other due to the large variety of items for sales. And Swartz Creek’s event was also a fantastic place to network! I’ve got so many invites to different events that I am literally overwhelmed!

“Come with me and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination.”~ Willy Wonka – Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

One of the most frequent questions I am asked as an author is what inspired me to write The Rite of Wands. I have always found that question interesting because when you think about it, inspiration is different for everyone. It may be a memory, a character from a book, song lyrics, a political speech, a TV series, or even an actor’s performance. Pure imagination is in all of us—we only need to discover it, and sometimes storytelling helps.

Inspiration can come to us in any shape or form; you never know what or who may inspire you. That was the case for me in 2014 when I got the opportunity to attend Wizard World Chicago and meet English actor Matt Smith, who is known for playing the Eleventh Doctor on Doctor Who, and most recently Prince Philip on Netflix’s The Crown. I had originally gone there because I really wanted to meet a Doctor, and honestly felt it was going to be one in a lifetime, never thought it would be possible to meet him again being in America. If only I had known then that I was about to discover the main piece of inspiration in order to finish my book!

A few months later, I was sitting at my desk in my writing office, trying to compose something, but nothing would come to me. I was staring at a blank page for what seemed like eternity. I was close to tears. Not because I was sad, but because I was so frustrated with myself! I thought I had what was called a dead book, and my dream of becoming an author was coming to an end. I wasn’t a writer like I thought. In that moment of desperation, I literally shouted at my computer, “WHO are you? Show yourself!” And then inspiration hit.

I envisioned out of a dark alley in Glendalow, Matt Smith, dressed in medieval warlock attire, carrying an ebony wooden wand in his hand that contained a bloodstone crystal at the shaft. There was also a scar on his face from some type of chemical accident.

I felt like I was having my own “regeneration.” I was being fed all the information I had been missing all at once. I could now hear the character, see the character, and I got a huge grasp on this character’s dominant personality, especially after the first thing I could hear this character say to me was, “My name is Mierta, and that is NOT how it happened.”

In that moment, I gained my confidence back, realizing my dream of becoming a writer could still happen. If you’re a struggling writer, don’t give up! Keep at it. Find what inspires you. You never know what or who that may be!

For all of you who love finding new reads, I have just the thing for you. The YA Scavenger Hunt is coming. If you’ve never heard of it, the hunt runs twice a year in the spring and in the fall. During the hunt we showcase new and upcoming YA releases, give out tons of prizes, and release special bonus material. Sound interesting?

This spring we will have one hundred forty authors split into seven teams of twenty. Each team is assigned a color. The blog hop begins Oct 3rd and runs through Sunday, Oct 8th. It’s easy to play. All you have to do is either start on my blog or head directly over to the YASH website. There you’ll find a list of all the authors participating as well as an answer sheet you can print off to gather the info you’re hunting for and to keep track of any bonus contests you may have entered.

Are you ready to see all the books featured this season? Here they are!